Gave a lecture last week in Durham Cathedral on 'Developing Churches that can Transform the Culture'. It was part of the 'Fresh Expressions' lecture tour - Prof. Jimmy Dunn gave the morning lecture & I did the afternoon.

It looked at whether churches ought to be trying to transform the culture (Stanley Hauerwas says that's a waste of time). If he's right how then do we interact with culture? His point is that the church's main contribution to societies is to 'become communties capable of producing people of virtue'. Right on.

My basic argument is that as Hauerwas says, church has a culture whether we like it or not, and it our job to introduce people to that culture rather than bother about transforming the external one. But that culture is not defined by certain types of music, liturgical practice, language etc., but by certain qualities: forgiveness, patience, kindness, hospitality, chastity, generosity etc. That is the culture of church - those are the values we hold to, try to inculcate and we do it by telling the Christian story over & over because it reminds us who we are - deeply loved and forgiven children of a heavenly father. Anyway - clip from the lecture is available here.